Up until a few weeks before decision day, I had no clue where I wanted to go to college. On top of that, I had no idea what I wanted to major in. You hear the same thing most of the time: "Oh, you're so young. You have plenty of time to figure that out!" Wrong. Most colleges want you to declare by your sophomore year, which may sound like plenty time, but really, it isn't.

For the four years of our high school career, we are given set classes. Math, history, science and English. Sure, you can take some electives like art or maybe a business class or two, but oftentimes students don't even get that opportunity. As a society, we are so focused on one thing: college. It is what I based every single class that I took in high school on; how it would look on a college résumé.

So it worked; I got into a great college with amazing opportunities, but I cant help but feel like I'm stuck at square one again. It varies from school to school, but at my university in particular, I am required to take "core" classes. It requires me to take an abundance of classes in different subjects. However, I feel at times as if it prevents me from exploring fields of work that I may be interested in before I have to declare my major. How am I supposed to know if I want to be a lawyer if I never get the opportunity to take a business law class before I declare my major? We force kids to have these rigorous academic schedules, but never stop and take the time to think how it can affect their futures.

People laugh at the idea of finding a job that you love and that makes you happy. Why does it have to be such a ludicrous thought, though? If we stop rushing the process of career planning and give students the opportunity to explore fields of work, then I think we would be far better off. The more passionate a person is in a line of work, the better the productivity.

As a society, we put an immense amount of pressure on students to decide what they want to do for the rest of their life. It can be such a terrifying decision for anyone to make, let alone an 18 or 19-year-old. If you ask anyone what they think they will be happy doing 40 years from now, I'm sure that their stomach will flutter in panic.

Yes, we should encourage students to push themselves academically. However, we should not do so for the sole purpose of getting them to decide on a life long career as fast as possible. We have our whole lives to build our career. What's the rush?